


The Next Generation

by writewithurheart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Future Fic, Multi, New Avengers, Or Eleven, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Ten Years Later, The Kids as Superheroes, all grown up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 17:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18833218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writewithurheart/pseuds/writewithurheart
Summary: Prompt: “I want Spidey, Groot, and Shuri on a dream team with Morgan as the tag along.”...Morgan Stark is 16 and working on her masters, which is great, but she still can't do what she wants most. Peter Parker is living the life he always wanted, with a healthy dose of girl troubles. Maybe? Or maybe not? He isn't realy sure what's up with SHuri and MJ. Groot is Groot. And Lila Barton is just about fed up with all the nonsense, thank you very much.





	The Next Generation

**Author's Note:**

> For my best friend writetheniteaway because she seemed to think I was somehow qualified to write this. I'm not sure it's what she expected but here it goes!

**The Next Generation**

…

_ <Spidey to Groot, I could use some back up over here.> _

_ <I am Groot.> _

_ <That’s great, but who has eyes on the sorcerer?> _

_ <I thought that was you, Shuri.> _

_ <Sorcerer located. Heading towards seventh. No clear shot.> _

She absolutely supposed to be paying attention. Morgan Stark knew that. She’s sure Professor Foster is talking groundbreaking astrophysics, but to be fair, she’s already completed the rest of her assignments for the semester and all the required reading. She absolutely deserved a study break, and class was always so slow anyway. 

What Mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her. 

Morgan adjusts her earpiece and quickly activates the T.O.N.I. implant so she can pull up the information on the New Avengers’ current battle. Tiny Optic Neural Interface responds to her fingers tapping on the desk, just quiet enough to be unnoticable or to pass for a neural tic. 

She sets the program to track the sorcerer and quickly taps into the team’s suits using the backdoor her dad built into Peter’s. The information pops up at a map, blinking green dots to represent the team, and a swarm of red to represent the bogeys. 

From the camera feed, they look normal civilians with some glazed over looks.

_ <Guys, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. Where are we on breaking this spell?> _ Peter’s face pops up in the corner of her optical overlay to coincide with his voice. 

_ <I’m not so sure it is a spell. Whatever it is effects their brainwaves.> _ Shuri falls back from the fight to type something into her wrist display. 

A crash and muffled curse bring Lila on screen.  _ <Whatever it is, we need to end this before more civilians get hurt.> _

_ <I am Groot.> _

Morgan pulls up the information Shuri has collected so far. While the Panther looks for a way to end the sorcerer’s control, Morgan frowns at her display. Not all the civilians are attacking. There are plenty running away in panic.  

Quickly she runs the images back to the point of origin, when the first civilian attacked. She slows down the video. The sorcerer in question emerges on video first walking out of Hammer Industries. Or rather, he’s thrown out by two burly security guards and what look like a couple of lawyers. She speeds up the video even as the man’s information pops up on her display: Arthur Reynolds. Age 43. No history of metahuman activity. 

It’s only as he gets closer to Stark Expo 2035 that civilians start to act odd. They start rioting and attacking each other. Morgan pulls up as many specs as she can on the aggressors. Visuals give no indication as to similarities between them. 

Then she notices the finger twitch. 

Morgan pauses and glances at her own hand. Oh. 

He’s got something that resembles T.O.N.I. Not a sorcerer after all then, which means… 

A couple taps later and she can confirm that all the aggressors are owners of Hammer’s latest gadget: an implant that links your phone directly to your neural system. Stark passed on the technology as it actually implanted a device that was potentially unstable into your body. They used her father’s nanotechnology to create a similar device that apparently didn’t have the same hackable back door. 

She glances around her lecture hall, like tuning back in to the world after hours spent in her lab, and catches Doctor Foster hold up a card that says “see me after class.” Morgan nods and drifts back to her display. 

Hammer tech, as always, causes her no trouble. Their system works on a subscription basis. Everyone susceptible to the attack is laid out in a grid that she can see worldwide. The virus itself is fascinating. It basically uses neural overlays to send the body incorrect signals or in some cases hijack their systems altogether. All in all, it’s pretty damn close to sorcery. 

But still completely human. 

She shuts it down and then ends the neural display. Her comms are still open so she can hear the team in their final takedown. All in all: a job well done. 

Now if only they would let her join the fight.

She could argue that she’s older than any of them were when they wore their first suits. Hell, she’s arguably more educated too. How many of them are working on advanced engineering and science degrees? 

Okay, maybe a bad point. Shuri probably has her beat there. 

If she’s old enough to attend college, she should be old enough to make her own decisions. Peter was fighting Thanos at 15. Shuri was the same age and a genius. Groot’s age is irrelevant because he’s a space tree. Lila was fighting at seventeen. 

Yet somehow she’s the one left behind. Legacy, or not. 

She fiddles with her metal bracelets as lecture hall empties. When they’re only two students left, Morgan stands and walks to the front desk. “Doctor Foster.” 

“Morgan.” 

She’s got a couple inches on Doctor Foster. Her tone of voice, however, reminds Morgan that this woman once dated a god. 

“Is there somewhere you’d rather be than my class?” 

Morgan sighs. “No.” 

“I get that you’re a Stark and you’re probably too smart for this, but that doesn’t mean you can do other things in my class.” 

“Got it, Doc.” 

Foster frowns. “What are you doing here, Morgan?” 

“Biding my time,” she answers honestly. “Can’t put on the suit, can’t work in the lab, can’t fight until I’m eighteen. I designed my own suit at twelve, trained with the Winter Soldier at fourteen, I can hack an advanced system in class at sixteen, but they won’t let me fight. So I’m here, waiting.” 

Doctor Foster sighs. “Your parents just wanted you to have a normal childhood.” 

“I’m a genius who’s dad died saving the universe from a madman. Normal was never an option.” 

… 

“That was so cool! How did you manage to do that, Shuri? One second the civilians were all like ‘aaaaarrrrggghhhh’ and then they were like ‘ahhhhhhh’. I mean, amazing.” Peter gushes as he pulls off his mask. 

“I am Groot!” 

“Exactly!” 

Lila Barton stares at the two of them, then at Shuri who is frowning at her display. She drops into her chair and crosses her combat boots on top of the table. She pops a piece of gum and flips through the logs in the computer system. If Shuri didn’t do it, there’s one person who could. Lila has a feeling Shuri’s been covering for the brainiac. Sure enough, the logs change just as Shuri announces: 

“He was using Hammer neural relays. I just crashed the system.” 

“Awesome,” Peter says. 

“Apparently he was trying to prove a point to Hammer, that his invention was dangerous.” 

“I am Groot.” 

“Sending the data to the authorities now,” Shuri announces. She shuts down her display with a triumphant smile. “The New Avengers strike again!” 

Lila rolls her eyes as the others exchange high fives, but lifts hers for an obliging fist bump with Parker before he disappears to shower before his very exciting lunch date with MJ. Groot heads for the garden where he’s probably flirting with some flowers or something and Lila twists to straddle her chair to stare down Shuri. 

The princess does an admirable job of ignoring her. She fidgets with her designs and alters calculations that Lila can’t begin to understand. Except Lila is the daughter of a spy, the goddaughter of an assassin, she learned circus tricks at her parents’ side. She’s good at seeing through facades and Shuri’s been flipping through schematics without reading them. 

Lila pulls a throwing knife from her thigh holster and starts to clean under her nails. It’s an Aunt Nat trick she likes to use. 

“I suppose I shall rejoin my brother,” Shuri says abruptly. 

Lila sighs, not looking up from her nails. “Why are you covering for little Stark?” 

“If she wants to help, we should not push her away.” Shuri crosses her arms over her chest. “I fought Thanos at her age.” 

Lila chews her lip. “And I was an expert marksman, but I didn’t join the team until I was 18. It’s like enlisting in the military.” 

“That’s what I do not understand,” Shuri says with a frown. “She is a genius, she’s had to grow up faster than any child. She grew up in the thick of things as much as we did. She should not be sidelined.” 

Her hand stills. The knife feels heavier in her hand. She might be Hawkeye but the Widow hourglass stares back at her from the handle of the blade. It’s part of Lila’s inheritance - Aunt Nat’s knives, the video diaries, the training, her legacy. “Her mom said no. Not until she’s at least 18.” 

They both know it’s the company line. Neither of them have outed Morgan’s contribution to Pepper. Hell, it was one of the team’s worst kept secrets. Except Peter probably had no clue. He tends to be a little blind when it comes to his surrogate sister. 

“We all wish to protect our loved ones…” Shuri says quietly. 

“And if Pepper knew we were enabling,” Lila cuts in, “she would skin us alive. Heck, Peter would-” 

“Peter would hold his tongue if he knew what was good for him,” Shuri responds firmly. 

Lila raises an eyebrow. She’s not touching that will a ten foot pole. Peter and Shuri dancing around each other was cute, once upon a time. Then Peter had a girlfriend that Shuri was “absolutely fine” with. Maybe it’s because Lila remembers her parents and Aunt Natasha and the way their relationship blurred lines. She sees the way Shuri mixes well with both MJ and Peter and wonders why they don’t just get over societal restrictions and love each other openly. 

If MJ’s flirting is any indication, she agrees with Lila. 

“Looks like the fight got a little nasty.” 

Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Lila grins at MJ, not the she noticed Lila, her eyes too busy looking Shuri over for injury. Shuri’s eyes widen in surprise. 

“Oh, looks worse than it is. Peter’s just taking a shower.” Shuri uncharacteristically avoids eye contact. She waves her hands and looks for an exit. “He’ll be out soon. I just have to-” 

“Sure you’re okay?” MJ runs her hand down Shuri’s arm and then cups her cheek to get the genius to look at her. “Looks like you’re starting to bruise.” She brushes her hand over Shuri’s temple and the girl looks like she’s going into shock. 

“I-I-I’m good.” 

MJ smirks. “Then you probably need some lunch. Wanna join Pete and I?” 

“Oh, um, I’m not hungry.” 

Lila smirks as Shuri’s stomach audibly rumbles in direct contradiction. MJ just grins like the cat that caught the canary and pats Shuri’s cheek. “Get changed. We leave in twenty.” 

Shuri looks to Lila for support and she just grins. “Don’t look at me. I’ve got class.” 

With the helpless look of someone who can’t come up with an excuse (probably because she doesn’t want one), Shuri straightens her spine and attempts some form of control. “Very well. I shall join you. But I warn you: we Wakandans eat vast quantities after combat.” 

She sweeps from the room with all her royal dignity and MJ drops into the seat beside Lila. “They’re both idiots.” 

Lila returns her knife to it’s holster. “Yup. What’re you going to do about it?” 

MJ sighs. “Lock us all in a room?” 

“FRIDAY can jam the elevator, but they could probably hack their way out.” Lila shrugs. “I would just lay one on Shuri. Okoye says she’s like her brother: they freeze up around their crushes.” Lila rises from her chair and winks at MJ. “Have fun.” 

MJ grins as she considers the new information. “Oh, I will.” 

Lila regrets nothing. 

… 

“You need to be more careful.” 

Morgan drops her pencil on her open pad of graph paper and frowns at the brunette sipping a non-descript coffee across the table. Lila Barton is, of course, wearing a bright purple hawkeye shirt, jeans and combat boots.Her aviators even have a slight purple tint. Her bare arms are littered with scratches from the earlier fight. A couple even have Avengers themed band aids. 

“No one’s going to just grab me off the street,” Morgan counters, going back to her sketch of a dimensional portal. “TONI is programed to alert me if a threat approaches.” 

“I could be a threat.” 

Morgan snorts. 

“Also not what I was talking about. I meant this morning.” 

Her pencil continues to draw straight lines on the paper, assisted by the overlay in her glasses. She planned it out in class, even though it’s technically homework, and her teacher is a peon who insists on all work being done with pencil on paper. Highly unnecessary in Morgan’s opinion, but what does she know. 

“I was in class this morning,” she deflects. 

Lila hums. “Right. And you never multitask.” 

“Say, if I did intercede,” Morgan concedes as she adds another line, “you wouldn’t be able to prove it.” 

Lila nods. “Shuri erased any data you missed.” She leans forward. “Look, Shuri and I get it. You want to be out there, but your mother has to agree.” 

Her pencil skitters across the page, creating a jumpy line. “Mom won’t agree.” 

“So bargain,” Lila says. “Don’t ask to be in the field, ask to be back up from the tower. It’s what you’re doing anyway. Train with the team. You’ve got two years and you’re already prepared.” 

Morgan rolls her eyes. “You don’t think I’ve already tried that?”

Lila leans on the table and clasps her hands. “Pepper is scared. She needs you to reassure her. If you want to do this, you need to do it right. Your mother knows she won’t be able to stop you. She’s just trying to protect you for as long as possible.” 

“I don’t need to be protected.” 

An agitated hand taps on the table. “Our parents will always try to protect us. It’s their job.”

Morgan has stopped drawing but hasn’t looked up from the paper, not yet. She hates this feeling of helplessness and she hates disappointing her mother. She leans back. “How did you convince Clint?” 

“I recruited my mom, convinced them I could handle myself. Not to say it was easy. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Dad put me through every test, made me train with the Winter Soldier for months and then I was still on probationary status for close to a year. I think Dad wanted to scare me off.” She stretches out, legs straight as she slouches back. “You can offer that.” 

“Yeah, training with the man who murdered my grandparents won’t worry her at all.” Morgan closes her notebook. Her plan is already online. If her teacher throws a fit with that, well, she did already did the homework at 3am while half asleep. 

“That’s a load of shit and you know it. Bucky is the best trainer we’ve got.” 

She shrugs. “I’m already training with him on weekends and breaks.” Morgan shoves her notebook into her bag. “Mom wants me to get this degree before we talk about this again.” 

Lila purses her lips. “Then maybe she needs to know what you’ve been doing.” 

Morgan smirks. “Why do you think I left any trace at all? If Shuri didn’t keep deleting them, maybe  _ she’d _ be coming to talk to me.” 

Because that was the plan: for her mother to find out while she was being useful. Shuri and Lila were trying to help her operate in secret, which was nice. It made them great friends, but it didn’t help her agenda. 

“If I get Mom on board, then it Pete will have to accept it. Right now, the two of them are blocking me.” 

“Probably because they’re worried you’ll follow in your father’s footsteps,” Lila points out. “Not intentionally,” she says quickly, “but they don’t want to lose you.” 

Morgan rolls her eyes. “And we’re going in circles, which we’ve been doing for the past year, and it leaves me biding my time until I turn eighteen. Which Pete is a hypocrite for enforcing. Mom, I understand. Did you know I could be legally emancipated?” 

Lila stares, unimpressed. “You’re not getting emancipated.” 

“But I could,” she points out victoriously. She lifts her cup in a salute and takes a sip. She grimaces at the cold liquid and puts the cup back on the table. 

“You’re not.” 

“Want to get lunch?” Morgan asks suddenly. “I know a great place around the corner. Not too fancy. Great for a first date.” 

She watches Lila’s face at her offer. Lila blinks and then looks at Morgan. There’s a moment when she looks pleasantly surprised before she relaxes and rolls her eyes. “Maybe in two years, jailbait.” 

Morgan grins. “Can I hold you to that?” 

Lila purses her lips in contemplation. She stands and leans forward into Morgan’s space. “Ask me again in two years.” She winks and saunters away. 

Her steps have a bounce, her smile never leaves her face, and Morgan finds herself walking to the Tower instead of to class. She uses TONI to pull up all her recent activity in a log to show her mom.  Maybe it is time to have that talk.


End file.
